This is a super simple salad, takes minutes to make but tastes delicious and looks like you’ve spent ages making it. This is a firm family favourite in our house and the girls love it. I serve this as a starter together with garlic bread. The garlic bread (or any bread of your choice) helps to soak up all the tomato, olive oil and basil juices and I can’t begin to explain how yummy it tastes.
You can use mozzarella cheese for this and sometimes I do. It depends on where I’ve shopped and what cheese is available. The Burrata cheese and Buffalo Mozzerella is softer and creamier and these tend to be my personal preference however a good quality mozzarella works just as well.
For those that are thinking what is the difference between these cheeses, fresh mozzarella cheese is a semi-soft Italian cheese made from cow or goat milk. Buffalo Mozzarella is made from water Buffalo milk and is softer, creamier and has a deeper taste. Burrata cheese takes the mozzarella one step further — it’s mozzarella that’s formed into a pocket and then filled with soft, stringy curd and cream (sounds gross but trust me it tastes delicious).
- 2 x Burrata Cheese Balls (200g x 2 Balls)
- 30-40 Cherry Vine Tomatoes (remember the nicer the tomatoes the more flavoursome your salad will be).
- Good Quality Olive Oil
- Pinch of Pink Salt
- Pinch of Ground Pepper
- Handful Chopped Fresh Basil Leaves
- Wash and chop your tomatoes in half. Place in a large bowl.
- Add the chopped basil to the tomatoes.
- Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Add olive oil and toss salad so that all tomatoes are coated.
- Leave this to one side until you are ready to serve (tastes best of tomatoes are served at room temperature).
- When you are ready to serve depending on the type of cheese you have used you will serve a little differently.
- If you have chosen Mozzarella cheese you can tear or cut you cheese into pieces and mix through the salad and then serve alongside your garlic bread.
- If you are using Burrata or Buffalo Mozzerella divide your tomatoes into 4 portions and tear your cheese in half and place on top of the salad. Reason being is that these chesses are soft and won’t cope with being mixed into the salad.
- The key to this salad tasting amazing will be the quality of the ingredients. It will make a big difference what type of tomatoes, cheese and olive oil you use. Nicer the ingredients yummier your salad. I have learnt this the hard way when I once used Mozzarella cheese that would have been much better suited to being melted on a pizza instead of being eaten in its natural state.